Know thy Grain

One of my favorite aspects of brewing
is undoubtably the various types of grain. Let's face it, without grains, there would be no starches and without starches, nothing for the yeast to feed on to make beer. As I have sampled different beers the ability to pick out certain grains has become increasily easier and fun. For example, Hoss by Great Divide has a nice spicey note which can be attributed to the use of Rye. Many amber ales use a Crystal Malt to impart a rich caramel flavor.

On my last visit to the homebrew shop I stocked up on some grains for the coming months of brewing. I thought it would be wise to try and understand what each grain profile before I started brewing. For each grain I took out some of the starch and gave it a taste(let it dissolve). It might sound odd, but I actually found it helpful for identifying the taste in the finished product. What follows is a break down of 8 grains.

Pale Malt 2-Row This malt is a standard all-purpose grain used in most beers to add body and serve as a foundational building block in grain bills. It gives a smooth less grainy flavor. Smell: light, crisp, and straw-like
Color: "pale" to golden blonde hue with white starch compound.
Taste: flour-like and lightly sweet

Munich Malt 10L A common grain used in a majority of darker German beers. It is kilned slightly higher than Pale Malt which gives it a deeper color, richer aroma, and fuller flavor.
Smell: similar to 2-Row with a little bit more of a bready aroma.
Color: just a shade darker than 2-Row if not the same.
Taste: sweet and chalky.

Vienna Malt 10L A grain that is used in Marzen, Oktoberfest, and Vienna style lagers. It has high acidity, yeilds a deeper color than Munich Malt, and is very rich/aromatic.
Smell: similar to 2-Row and Munich, but more straw-like and earthy.
Color: looks exactly like Munich and 2-Row.
Tastes: exactly like Munich, less chalky, and an ever-so-slight bitterness.

Biscuit Malt A lightly toasted malt that lends a garnet to brown color and increased body. It has a rich biscuit or bread flavor and aroma
Smell: more well-rounded than 2-Row, full toasted aroma.
Color: looks toasted, very neutral, starch is tan.
Taste: like a Triscut cracker.

CaraMunich This is a Belgium Crystal malt that is medium-copper, gives the beer a rich caramel sweetness both in aroma and flavor. It has no enzymes and is not associated with Munich malt.
Smell: like a bad of oats, richly toasted, and cereal notes.
Color: looks copper and amber.
Taste: sweet and caramely

Crystal Malt 120L A dark highly kilned grain with no enzymes, but the unfermentables give the beer an enhanced mouthfeel, rich body, better head retention, and great color.
Smell: roasted, deep cereal notes, nutty, sweet to sharp caramel notes
Color: mahogany-almost black roasted
Taste: a little like toffee or caramelized sugar.

Chocolate Malt Used by brewers in all types of beers to impart color and chocolate/coffee flavor. It is named more because of the color rather than the it's flavor. Highly roasted and similar to Black Patent, but lighter and used more in Porters.
Smell: robust, dark nutty, and burnt grain that is bold.
Color: has a deep choco bean, rich burnt brown look
Taste: burnt, coffeeish and dark choco chalky flavors.

Black Patent Also known as "black malt" this grain is kilded at very high temps for a long period of time. Just about all the starch and enzymes are destroyed so the malted is used to add a sharp burnt flavor found in most Stouts/Porters.
Smell: burnt like charcoal and rather sharp smokey noes.
Color: like black coffee grounds.
Tastes: dry, chalky, and burnt/charred.